Healthy soil and sustainable growing

[Emery Mitchamore <emitch@att.net>]

Intensive (annual), vegetables are the main thing to focus on but, if you 
have a bit more room, it's a very good to have some fruit & nut trees, 
perennial food crops, berries, chickens, etc.  Other than the space question, 
there is no reason for them to be mutually exclusive.

E. E. "Mitch" Mitchamore
www.hillcountrynatives.net



On Jan 13, 2011, at 2:22 PM, Tradingpost wrote:

> 
> Well, skeptic, you've hit on the matter that happens to be my pet 
> speciality. We know from official statistics that small farmers who do buy 
> the machinery and land etc. can hardly make ends meet, so the typical 
> family farmer today (what's left of them) has an outside job just to pay 
> bills and keep the farm. I've seen a figure of a couple million just to get 
> started in farming. And the big corporate farms get subsidies, price 
> supports, and crop insurance to sell to the middlemen who set the prices. 
> 
> And the question is where does that leave us. It helps to clearly see that 
> box we have to think outside of, and fortunately you do. So don't grow 
> wheat to harvest by hand; don't compete with big agribusiness on their 
> cheap, poisoned, subsidized commodities; it's a rigged game and the house 
> always wins. 
> 
> Grow intensive on small areas at low cost and bypass the middleman by 
> selling retail at full price. I do this, no tiller, no help, upscale 
> markets for retail prices. You probably can't make a high income this way 
> without being in a great year-round climate with lots of upscale customers 
> close by and plenty of free family labor. But it is a way millions can 
> supplement their income by just growing on the property they already have 
> or by working with those nearby who do have room to grow. 
> 
> Intensive isn't original with me, nor other growing methods. The key to it 
> is permanent beds and aisles in a limited space. Beds not compacted by feet 
> or machines don't need tilling, and don't need to be raised or framed if 
> conditions are right. And organic amendments, irrigation, weeding, and 
> mulching is cut in half at least - literally - compared to inefficient 
> tractor rows. And it's called intensive because you can get a lot more 
> production in a given garden area, with equidistant planting (instead of 4" 
> between seeds and 18" between rows - makes no sense at all). Like at least 
> 2-300 carrots in one 3'x8' bed without crowding. Do the math. You also 
> focus on space-saving high value varieties intead of space hogs like 
> pumpkins or grains. You use season extension techniques like homemade 
> tunnels, greenhouses, cold frames, or row covers. You adapt to your climate 
> and beat others to market with early protected starts from seed to 
> transplant. I have no experience with brambles or
>  orchards or value added products, so I'm not sure how that works in this 
> context. There's much more information out there from many sources. 
> 
> paul tradingpost@lobo.net
> 
> *********** REPLY SEPARATOR  ***********
> 
> On 1/13/2011 at 12:40 PM paul@oneseedling.com wrote:
> 
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